Narrative Designer - Trading Card Game

Role Overview

• Fanatics Collectibles is building the future of trading card games.
• The Fanatics TCG studio is focused on creating original worlds that are designed to live for decades - expressed through gameplay, art, story, and collectible objects. Our ambition is to build franchises that are not only widely played, but deeply felt.
• We are seeking a Narrative Designer to help shape the worlds, characters, and stories that define our games.
• This is not a role focused solely on writing text. It is a role about building worlds - establishing the underlying logic, tone, and emotional core of new universes, and ensuring that every part of the player experience reflects that foundation.
• You will work closely with Creative, Game Design, and Art to develop narrative systems that live inside the cards themselves - where mechanics, visuals, and story reinforce one another.
• The ideal candidate brings strong storytelling instincts, a systems mindset, and a passion for creating worlds that players want to return to again and again.

What You'll Do

Build Worlds That Can Sustain a Franchise

• Develop the foundational lore, cosmology, and narrative structure of new TCG worlds.
• Define factions, cultures, characters, and conflicts that can evolve over many sets and years.
• Help establish the tone, themes, and emotional identity of each franchise.

Integrate Story with Game and Product

• Partner with Game Design to ensure that mechanics and narrative reinforce each other.
• Collaborate with Art and Creative teams to align on visual storytelling and world cohesion.
• Contribute to the development of set themes, narrative arcs, and character moments.

Design Narrative Systems for Cards

• Develop approaches for how story is expressed through card names, flavor text, mechanics, and set structure.
• Ensure that narrative is discoverable through play and collection, not just external content.
• Help define how narrative evolves across releases and expansions.

Create and Support Narrative Content

• Write flavor text, card names, and supporting narrative content.
• Contribute to world guides, story bibles, and internal documentation.
• Support external storytelling efforts (e.g., web content, marketing beats, potential media extensions).

Collaborate Across the Studio

• Work closely with Creative, Design, Product, and Marketing teams to ensure narrative consistency.
• Participate in early ideation, helping shape concepts before they become fully defined.
• Provide feedback that elevates the coherence and emotional impact of the world.

What You Bring

• 3+ years of experience in narrative design, writing, or worldbuilding for games, publishing, or related media.
• Strong ability to develop original worlds, characters, and narrative frameworks.
• Experience working in collaborative, cross-functional environments.
• Ability to balance creative vision with system constraints.
• Excellent writing skills across both short-form (e.g., flavor text) and long-form (e.g., lore, story guides).
• Passion for fantasy, sci-fi, and worldbuilding-driven storytelling.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working on trading card games, tabletop games, or live service games.
• Background in fantasy or sci-fi writing.
• Familiarity with how narrative can be expressed through game systems and mechanics.
• Experience contributing to original IP or franchise development.

Seattle Salary Range $123,050—$154,100 USD

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